Man Charged In 5 Attempted Homicides In Chesco Found Dead In Jail

EXTON, PA — A man authorities say tried to kill a West Whiteland Township family by cutting a gas line and leaving a fire-starting device nearby has killed himself in a New Jersey jail as he awaited extradition to Pennsylvania.

Ryan D. Elliott, 30, was found dead in his room in Monmouth County Correctional Institution early on Tuesday, the Monmouth County Sheriff's Office confirmed.

Middletown, NJ police and U.S. Marshals had arrested Elliott Friday as a fugitive from justice. The Chester County District Attorney's Office had charged him with five counts of attempted homicide, one for each person present in the home whose gas line he allegedly cut. One member of the household had a Protection From Abuse Order against Elliot, the D.A. reported.

At the Monmouth jail, a corrections officer checked Elliot's room at 4:26 a.m. Tuesday and reported no issues, but 16 minutes later Elliot "was found handing from a bed sheet," according to Cynthia Scott, Public Information Officer for the Manmouth Sheriff's Office.

The series of events began in the wee hours of Thursday morning when one resident of a development in West Whiteland Township awoke to a strong smell of gas. Investigators found a cut gas line and an "incendiary device" close to where the home's gas line was cut.

Five family members were inside the residence at the time of the incident. Police reported someone had broken into the home and cut the gas line. Police identified Elliott as the person they believed to be responsible and Chester County's District Attorney's Office charged him with five counts of Criminal Attempt to commit Criminal Homicide.

On Nov. 13, the U.S. Marshal's Service, New Jersey State Police Fugitive Task Force, and the Middletown Township Police took Elliott into custody in Leonardo, NJ.

The West Whiteland Township Fire Department, Chester County District Attorney's Office, Chester County Detectives, Delaware County District Attorney’s Office Bomb Squad, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms assisted in the initial response and investigation in Chester County.